Right-wing extremists accused of plotting anti-LGBTQ+ riot bailed out of Idaho jail
Global News
Thirty-one members from the white supremacist group Patriot Front were bailed and will face charges of conspiracy to riot, according to an Idaho Police Chief.
Thirty-one members of white nationalist group Patriot Front, arrested in Idaho over the weekend on suspicion of plotting to violently disrupt an LGBTQ pride event, were released from jail on bond and will make their initial court appearances in the coming weeks, a court official said on Monday.
The men, arrested on Saturday after the U-Haul rental truck they were riding in was pulled over, face misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot, according to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Police Chief Lee White.
A local resident called authorities after spotting the group of men, all dressed alike with white gaiter-style masks and carrying shields, loading themselves into the truck “like a little army,” White said.
Police stopped the truck about 10 minutes after the call, a short distance from the “Pride in the Park” event, he said.
Karlene Behringer, the trial court administrator in Kootenai County, confirmed that the men bonded out of jail and will appear in court at a later date.
During a news conference on Monday, White said authorities had no prior knowledge of the group’s plans in Coeur d’Alene, an Idaho Panhandle city about 380 miles (612 km) north of the capital, Boise.
“One lesson we have for our community… is one concerned citizen can prevent something horrible from happening,” White said.
Video taken at the scene of the arrest and posted online showed a group of men in police custody, kneeling next to the truck with their hands bound, wearing similar khaki pants, blue shirts, white masks and baseball caps.